do you

trust?

Marlene Hore,

Creative director,

BCP,

Toronto

Shooting a television commercial is an act of faith. An act of faith on the part of the client who buys a bunch of words typed on a piece of paper that represent an idea that exists only in the heads of the writer and art director who created it. It is similarly an act of faith on the part of the idea’s creators when they turn it over to a director to bring it to the screen.

The key word in both acts of faith is trust. The client trusts his creative team. He trusts their talent and believes that they will do everything in their power to produce an outstanding commercial. The creative team similarly must trust the director they choose to produce the spot. They must trust his or her talent and believe that everything humanly possible will be done to ensure that the commercial is the best it can be.

Creative teams do not take the task of choosing a director lightly. They spend hours poring over reels compiling a list of directors that they believe could bring something to the production.

Once that list is compiled, they begin to meet with the directors. This first meeting is the first step in creating a bond of trust between the creative team and the person to whom they will eventually award the job. Some directors come to that first meeting with their own vision, often throwing the baby out with the bath water. Others come to the meeting having simply considered how they take the board and put it on film. There are the directors who come brimming over with ideas on how to make the commercial great film.

However, there are the directors who come to that first meeting to listen. They want to understand the advertising idea, its shading and nuances. They then go away and consider ways of bringing that idea to its full potential. It is those directors, the ones who take the time and put in the effort to listen, understand and help grow the advertising idea, who earn the trust of the creative people.

How do you get your reel looked at? You don’t have to hang out at the local creative watering hole. You don’t have to take up bowling or fly fishing. What you must do is make sure your name and your successes are merchandised to every producer in town. (It’s the producers who pull together all those reels that the creative people plow through.) Recognize that you aren’t going to be right for every job. Be up-front when you don’t think you can do a spot justice. Don’t waste any opportunity you have to build that bond of trust.

And just a word on American or Canadian. Nationality is not the question. Talent and trust are.

There are incredibly talented Canadian directors. The choice of director is made spot by spot. Meeting by meeting. The only reason to award a job to a director, the only reason to take your client’s money and spend it is because you believe that you have chosen the man or woman with the talent to do the job and you trust that they will give it their all.

At the end of the day, it is the creative team that stands before the client with a fabulous commercial that is everything they promised or they stand before the client with egg on their face. No one wants to have egg on their face.

The Canadian production industry is certainly world-class and has nothing to be embarrassed about. However, they must be willing to fight for jobs, win them with their talent and convince creative teams that their commercial will be better for having used them to direct than having used anyone else.